Tony/Jaydee

Created by Tony Bark, Jaydee "JD" Casey is an eccentric and rebellious fennec residing in the city of Bridgeport at 456 Bark Street, in the Sunset Arms apartments. He is characterized by his blue fur, heterochromia eyes, and brown hair with pastel pink highlights. JD typically dons a letterman jacket, sandals, goggles, and a pleated skirt.

In his spare time, JD enjoys listening to music, playing tabletop games, and reading. His shoulder bag holds his cassette player, tablet computer, and assortment of RPG dice that help him relax. As an experimenter at heart, JD has become accustomed to failure, which has shaped a healthy and strong ego. While this gives him a witty and smug demeanor around his adversaries, he is generally humble in nature.

Background

JD's curiosity led him to develop an eccentric talent for experimentation, particularly in computer science and programming. He found enjoyment in creating unique software applications by combining various toolkits and frameworks. This hobby contributed to his rebellious streak. Additionally, JD enjoyed beta testing for numerous companies as a pastime, which provided him with valuable insights into the tech industry.

JD's activities in the tech world did not go unnoticed by major conglomerates such as TPaw. His contributions led to various roles within these companies, although his rebellious behavior often overshadowed his unique talents. Nonetheless, JD was content with his position, focusing on preventing unnecessary restrictions on software and data harvesting from users rather than dealing with stockholders and board of directors who encouraged such practices.

Variants

Cyberpunk

Two notable variants of the character that originated from Second Life as an early concept were a cyberpunk version that developed before JD evolved into a proper character. In 2019 and 2020, respectively, a cyborg or android variant was created.

Set in a near-future timeline, this origin story involved a car accident while JD was in university that led to one of these outcomes after the demands from his grieving father. In the cyborg branch, the military convinced them to join in exchange for their safety. Due to JD's skills, this agreement came with a catch of spending more time maintaining cybersecurity on behalf of the government instead of allowing him to return to his hobbies. The android branch was dropped after Bark realized that the military arc proved to be already dark enough. Although a new character was created to fill the android role, JD's personality was designed to be compatible with both portrayals.

Behind the Scenes

Jaydee Casey is a spiritual successor to Tony Bark's Zack Casey, his first character and original fursona, who shared a similar appearance as a blue fox. In Zack's design, his eyes were green, and he had brown hair without any highlights, as it was created on the spur of the moment on DeviantART when Bark was a teenager. Bark has been trying to evolve Zack after his attempts to move away from him failed, due to his genuine love for the character, as Zack represents his passion for music and dreams of being a DJ and musician, which are still present but not as prominent today.

Simultaneously, Bark was developing a fennec avatar on Second Life with retro-futuristic aesthetics, featuring a letterman jacket and skirt combined with a cassette and later a tablet. This new character was initially portrayed as Zack, transforming from a blue fox to a fennec in the process. However, Bark found it challenging to reconcile the conflicting portrayals, as this new incarnation was meant to explore technology while downplaying the musical aspect. He branched off this new incarnation into an ambiguous relative, creating Jaydee and suggesting he was either a brother or cousin. However, Bark chose to give them a brotherly relationship regardless of their position on the family tree. This decision paid homage to his time spent growing up with his cousin while on vacation at his grandmother's.